A Yaletown Alley’s Garage Doors.

Before I started getting super cold (see yesterday about not taking a jacket and trusting that it would be ok) I spent some time in one of my fav places… you know gritty and smelly back alleys.

I have said this so many times before but I absolutely love the utilitarian nature of back alleys and the patina that is created over time as a constant conversation between those that maintain this infrastructure and those that use it in all the ways that it wasn’t necessary intended. Like how the graffiti artists use these spaces as a canvas, or how the hobos use it for shelter, and how the ‘punk kids” might uses it for other nefarious purposes, or maybe the the wear and tear of delivery folks just all coming and going.

It is in this constant layering of the wear & tear mixed with the often “creative’ solutions that building maintenance folks come up with to “repair” it that has always intrigued me! Almost like tree rings it is this layering that over time shows the untold story of what happens in the alley.